Child safety seat

ABSTRACT

A child safety seat includes a support base, a seat shell positionable on the support base, a front end part rotatable relative to the seat shell between a retracted position and a deployed position, and a latching mechanism for locking the front end part in the deployed position. The seat shell has a front end provided with an opening, and two sidewalls respectively protruding at a left and a right side of a seat portion. The front end part has a transversal portion and two side portions, the transversal portion extending along a width direction of the seat shell, and the two side portions being respectively connected pivotally with the two sidewalls of the seat shell. The transversal portion of the front end part is stowed inside the opening of the seat shell in the retracted position, and extends outside the opening of the seat shell in the deployed position.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims priority to Chinese patent application no.201911396862.X filed on Dec. 30, 2019.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to child safety seats.

2. Description of the Related Art

A child safety seat is typically used in an automobile vehicle toproperly restrain a child in the event of accidental collision. Inparticular, it is well known that the installation of a child safetyseat in a rearward facing position can offer better protection becauseit allows the collision energy to be dispersed across a larger area ofthe child's body (i.e., the child's torso and head). Accordingly, safetyexperts and car seat manufacturers usually recommend to seat a child inthe rearward facing position till the age of 2 years. As the child growsolder, the child safety seat may be installed in the forward facingposition.

Some existing child safety seats allow to rotationally adjust a childseat between the rearward facing position and the forward facingposition, and can further set the child seat in a sideways facingposition for facilitating retrieval or placement of a child. However,because the support base of the child safety seat is attached on avehicle seat at a location that is usually not distant from the vehicledoor, the child seat may adversely collide against the vehicle door whenit rotates toward the sideways facing position.

Therefore, there is a need for an improved child safety seat that allowsflexible adjustment and address at least the foregoing issues.

SUMMARY

The present application describes a child safety seat that is moreflexibly adjustable and can offer a more convenient use.

According to an embodiment, the child safety seat includes a supportbase adapted to be installed on a vehicle seat, a seat shellpositionable on the support base, a front end part rotatable relative tothe seat shell between a retracted position and a deployed position, anda latching mechanism for locking the front end part in the deployedposition. The seat shell has a front end, a seat portion, a backrestportion and two sidewalls, the front end having an opening, the twosidewalls respectively protruding at a left and a right side of the seatportion, whereby an interior space for receiving a child is defined atleast partially between the two sidewalls. The front end part has atransversal portion and two side portions connected with the transversalportion, the transversal portion extending along a width direction ofthe seat shell, and the two side portions being respectively connectedpivotally with the two sidewalls of the seat shell. The transversalportion of the front end part is stowed and received at least partiallyinside the opening of the seat shell in the retracted position, andextends outside the opening of the seat shell in the deployed position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of a childsafety seat in a forward facing position;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the child safety seat in arearward facing position;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the child safety seat in asideways facing position;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a support base of the childsafety seat;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a child seat of the childsafety seat;

FIG. 6 is a partially exploded view illustrating some constructiondetails of the child seat;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating some inner constructiondetails of a seat shell of the child seat;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating the child seat with a frontend part thereof in a retracted position;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view illustrating a configuration of the childsafety seat where the seat shell is in the sideways facing position andthe front end part in a deployed position; and

FIG. 10 is a schematic view illustrating a configuration of the childsafety seat where the seat shell is in the sideways facing position andthe front end part in the retracted position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1-3 are perspective views illustrating an embodiment of a childsafety seat 100 in different positions. Referring to FIGS. 1-3, thechild safety seat 100 includes a support base 102, and a child seat 104disposed on the support base 102. The support base 102 is adapted to beinstalled on a vehicle seat, and can provide stable support for thechild safety seat 100. The support base 102 can have a suitablestructure for positioning the child seat 104 on the support base 102 indifferent orientations, such as a forward facing position shown in FIG.1, a rearward facing position shown in FIG. 2, and a sideways facingposition shown in FIG. 3.

In conjunction with FIGS. 1-3, FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustratingthe support base 102. Referring to FIGS. 1-4, according to an example ofconstruction, the support base 102 can include a shell body 106, arotary platform 108, two latch devices 110 and a support leg 112. Theshell body 106 can have an end forming a support panel 114 protrudingupward. The two latch devices 110 can be assembled with the shell body106, and can be disposed at a left and a right side of the shell body106 adjacent to the support panel 114. The support base 102 can beinstalled on a vehicle seat with the support panel 114 adjacent to aseatback of the vehicle seat to provide support, and the two latchdevices 110 can releasably engage with an anchor structure (e.g., ISOFIXanchor) provided in the vehicle to lock the support base 102 in place onthe vehicle seat. The support leg 112 can be connected with the shellbody 106 at an end thereof opposite to the end where are provided thelatch devices 110, and can extend downward from a bottom of the shellbody 106. In use, the support leg 112 extending from the bottom of theshell body 106 can contact against a floor of a vehicle in front of thevehicle seat on which the support base 102 is installed, which canprevent adverse rotation of the child safety seat 100 toward the frontof the vehicle.

The rotary platform 108 is pivotally connected with the shell body 106about a pivot axis Z, and is adapted to receive the installation of thechild seat 104. The pivot axis Z can vertically pass through the rotaryplatform 108, and can extend vertically or slightly tilted an angle(e.g., about 10 degrees to about 15 degrees) relative to a verticalaxis. The rotary platform 108 can be provided with a plurality oflatches 116 that are operatively connected with a release actuator 118.When the child seat 104 is installed on the rotary platform 108, thelatches 116 can engage with the child seat 104 so that the child seat104 and the rotary platform 108 are locked to each other. The releaseactuator 118 is operable to cause the latches 116 to move and disengagefrom the child seat 104 for removing the child seat 104 from the rotaryplatform 108. According to an example of construction, the rotaryplatform 108 can have a protruding portion 120, and four latches 116 canbe provided on the protruding portion 120.

After they are locked to each other, the child seat 104 and the rotaryplatform 108 can rotate in unison about the pivot axis Z relative to theshell body 106, whereby the child seat 104 can be positioned indifferent orientations. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates the child seat104 and the rotary platform 108 in a forward facing position, FIG. 2illustrates the child seat 104 and the rotary platform 108 in a rearwardfacing position, and FIG. 3 illustrates the child seat 104 and therotary platform 108 in a sideways facing position. When the child safetyseat 100 is installed in the forward facing position on a vehicle seat,a child can sit on the child seat 104 facing a forward direction of thevehicle. When the child safety seat 100 is installed in the rearwardfacing position on a vehicle seat, a child can sit on the child seat 104facing the seatback of the vehicle seat. When the child safety seat 100is set in the sideways facing position, a child can sit on the childseat 104 facing a door of the vehicle. An angular displacement betweenthe forward facing position and the sideways facing position can beabout 90 degrees, and an angular displacement between the rearwardfacing position and the sideways facing position can also be about 90degrees.

The support base 102 may include a plurality of latching parts (notshown) for locking the child seat 104 and the rotary platform 108 in anyof the forward facing position, the rearward facing position and thesideways facing position. For example, the shell body 106 can beassembled with a plurality of latching parts operable to move upward forlocking engagement with the rotary platform 108 and downward fordisengaging from the rotary platform 108.

In conjunction with FIGS. 1-4, FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustratingthe child seat 104, and FIG. 6 is a partially exploded view illustratingsome construction details of the child seat 104. Referring to FIGS. 1-6,the child seat 104 includes a seat shell 130, and a retractable frontend part 132. The seat shell 130 can be installed on the support base102, e.g., by engaging a bottom structure of the seat shell 130 with therotary platform 108 of the support base 102. Once they are locked toeach other, the seat shell 130 and the rotary platform 108 can rotate inunison relative to the shell body 106 so that the seat shell 130 can bepositioned in different orientations, such as the forward facingposition of FIG. 1, the rearward facing position of FIG. 2, and thesideways facing position of FIG. 3.

The seat shell 130 can have a front end 134, a seat portion 136, abackrest portion 138 and two sidewalls 140. The seat portion 136 canextend between the front end 134 and the backrest portion 138, and thetwo sidewalls 140 can respectively protrude upward from the seat portion136 at a left and a right side thereof. An interior space of the seatshell 130 suitable for receiving a child can be defined at leastpartially between the two sidewalls 140.

Each sidewall 140 can have a hollow structure, which can include twoopposite sidewall surfaces 142 and 144, a sidewall edge 146, and aninner cavity 148 (better shown in FIGS. 6-8) between the two sidewallsurfaces 142 and 144. More specifically, the sidewall surface 142 canface the interior space of the seat shell 130, and the sidewall surface144 can face an outer side of the seat shell 130. The sidewall edge 146can be located above the seat portion 136, can be respectively connectedwith the two sidewall surfaces 142 and 144, and can extend to the frontend 134 of the seat shell 130 with an inclination so that a frontportion of the sidewall edge 146 can face forward. The inner cavity 148of the sidewall 140 can be delimited at least partially by the twosidewall surfaces 142 and 144 and the sidewall edge 146.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the front end 134 of the seat shell 130 canhave an opening 150, which can extend transversally relative to the seatshell 130 and can be respectively connected with the inner cavities 148of the two sidewalls 140. The front end part 132 can be pivotallyconnected with the seat shell 130, whereby the front end part 132 canrotate relative to the seat shell 130 between a deployed position and aretracted position. In the deployed position, the front end part 132 canextend outside the opening 150, and can project forward and downward. Inthe retracted position, the front end part 132 can be stowed andreceived at least partially inside the opening 150. More specifically,the front end part 132 can have a transversal portion 152 and two sideportions 154, the transversal portion 152 extending along a widthdirection of the seat shell 130. According to an example ofconstruction, the transversal portion 152 can have a curved shape. Thetwo side portions 154 can be respectively connected with the transversalportion 152, and can bend from the transversal portion 152 symmetricalto each other. According to an example of construction, the front endpart 132 including the transversal portion 152 and the two side portions154 can be formed integrally as a single part.

The two side portions 154 of the front end part 132 are respectivelyconnected pivotally with the two sidewalls 140 of the seat shell 130,whereby the front end part 132 can rotate relative to the seat shell 130between the deployed position and the retracted position. According toan example of construction, each side portion 154 may have a couplingend 156, wherein the coupling end 156 can be fixedly connected with andprotrude outward from the side portion 154. The coupling ends 156 of thetwo side portions 154 can be respectively disposed inside the innercavities 148 of the two sidewalls 140, and can be respectively connectedpivotally with the two sidewalls 140 via two pivot shafts 158. The frontend part 132 is thereby pivotally connected with the two sidewalls 140about a pivot axis Y defined by the pivot shafts 158, which can belocated above the seat portion 136. Each side portion 154 can have awidth that is smaller than a width of the inner cavity 148 at a locationadjacent to the sidewall 140, whereby the side portion 154 can beretracted at least partially into the inner cavity 148 of the sidewall140 when the front end part 132 is in the retracted position.

FIG. 5 illustrates the front end part 132 of the child seat 104 in thedeployed position. In the deployed position, the transversal portion 152of the front end part 132 can extend outside the opening 150 of the seatshell 130 and can be positioned in front of the seat portion 136.Moreover, each side portion 154 of the front end part 132 can form asmooth profile extension relative to the sidewall 140 adjacent theretothat projects forward and downward from the opening 150. For example,each side portion 154 can have a front surface 160 that inclines forwardand downward and forms a generally smooth profile extension from thesidewall edge 146 of the sidewall 140 adjacent thereto. The front endpart 132 can provide support for the feet or legs of a child in thedeployed position.

FIG. 8 illustrates the front end part 132 of the child seat 104 in theretracted position. In the retracted position, the transversal portion152 of the front end part 132 can be stowed and received at leastpartially inside the opening 150 of the seat shell 130, and moreparticularly can be positioned in a hollow interior of the seat portion136 below an upper surface 136A of the seat portion 136. Moreover, thetwo side portions 154 of the front end part 132 can be respectivelyreceived at least partially inside the inner cavities 148 of the twosidewalls 140, whereby the front surface 160 of each side portion 154can form an angle with respect to the sidewall edge 146 of the sidewall140 adjacent thereto.

In conjunction with FIGS. 5 and 6, FIG. 7 is a perspective viewillustrating some inner construction details of the seat shell 130. Forthe sake of clarity, FIG. 7 omits the representation of the front endpart 132. Referring to FIGS. 5-7, the child seat 104 can further includea latching mechanism 162 for locking the front end part 132 in thedeployed position. The latching mechanism 162 can include two latches164, two springs 166, a release actuator 168 and two cables 170. The twolatches 164 can be respectively connected with the coupling ends 156 ofthe two side portions 154, and can move relative to the front end part132 to engage with or disengage from the seat shell 130. For example,each latch 134 can engage with a locking opening 172 provided in theseat shell 130 for locking the front end part 132 in the deployedposition, wherein the locking opening 172 can be exemplarily placedinside the inner cavity 148 of the sidewall 140. According to an exampleof construction, each latch 164 can be slidably connected with thecoupling end 156 of the side portion 154 associated therewith, and canslide relative to the front end part 132 to engage with or disengagefrom the seat shell 130. The two springs 166 can be respectivelyconnected with the two latches 164, and can respectively bias the twolatches 164 to move for engaging with the seat shell 130. The releaseactuator 168 can be assembled with the front end part 132, and can berespectively connected with the two latches 164 via the two cables 170.According to an example of construction, the release actuator 168 can beprovided on the transversal portion 152 of the front end part 132. Therelease actuator 168 is operable by a caregiver to urge the two latches164 to move and disengage from the seat shell 130, whereby the front endpart 132 can be unlocked for adjustment between the deployed positionand the retracted position.

According to an embodiment, the latching mechanism 162 can further beconfigured to lock the front end part 132 in the retracted position. Forexample, each latch 164 can engage with another locking opening 174provided in the seat shell 130 for locking the front end part 132 in theretracted position. Referring to FIGS. 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8, the lockingopening 174 can be exemplarily provided on the sidewall edge 146.

In conjunction with FIGS. 1-8, FIG. 9 is a schematic view illustratingthe child safety seat 100 with the seat shell 130 in the sideways facingposition and the front end part 132 in the deployed position, and FIG.10 is a schematic view illustrating the child safety seat 100 with theseat shell 130 in the sideways facing position and the front end part132 in the retracted position. Referring to FIG. 9, when the seat shell130 is in the sideways facing position on the support base 102 and thefront end part 132 in the deployed position, the front end part 132 cansideways protrude a distance L1 from the support base 102. Morespecifically, an image projection of the front end part 132 on a bottomplane P of the support base 102 can protrude the distance L1 from animage projection B of the support base 102 on the bottom plane P.

Referring to FIG. 10, when the seat shell 130 is in the sideways facingposition on the support base 102 and the front end part 132 in theretracted position, the front end part 132 can sideways protrude adistance L2 from the support base 102, wherein the distance L2 can besubstantially smaller than the distance L1 because the transversalportion 152 of the front end part 132 can be generally positioned in thehollow interior of the seat portion 136. According to an example ofconstruction, the distance L2 can be equal to or smaller than about halfthe distance L1. According to another example of construction, an imageprojection of the front end part 132 on the bottom plane P of thesupport base 102 can be within the boundary of the image projection B ofthe support base 102 on the bottom plane P when the seat shell 130 is inthe sideways facing position on the support base 102 and the front endpart 132 in the retracted position. Accordingly, when the child safetyseat 100 is used inside a vehicle, a caregiver can first adjust thefront end part 132 to the retracted position, and then rotate the childseat 104 from the forward or rearward facing position to the sidewaysfacing position for retrieving a child from the child seat 104 orplacing a child on the child seat 104. With the front end part 132 inthe retracted position, collision between the child seat 104 (inparticular the front end part 132 thereof) and a door of the vehicle canbe prevented as the child seat 104 rotates to the sideways facingposition.

Advantages of the structures described herein include the ability toprovide a child safety seat that is adjustable to different orientationsas needed and has a front end part retractable to prevent undesirableinterference with a vehicle environment during the adjustment of thechild safety seat. Accordingly, the child safety seat can be moreflexible and convenient in use.

Realization of the child safety seat has been described in the contextof particular embodiments. These embodiments are meant to beillustrative and not limiting. Many variations, modifications,additions, and improvements are possible. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements may fall within the scope ofthe inventions as defined in the claims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A child safety seat comprising: a support baseadapted to be installed on a vehicle seat; a seat shell positionable onthe support base, the seat shell having a front end, a seat portion, abackrest portion and two sidewalls, the front end having an opening, thetwo sidewalls respectively protruding at a left and a right side of theseat portion, whereby an interior space for receiving a child is definedat least partially between the two sidewalls; a retractable front endpart, having a transversal portion and two side portions connected withthe transversal portion, the transversal portion extending along a widthdirection of the seat shell, and the two side portions beingrespectively connected pivotally with the two sidewalls of the seatshell, whereby the front end part is rotatable relative to the seatshell between a retracted position and a deployed position, thetransversal portion of the front end part being stowed and received atleast partially inside the opening of the seat shell in the retractedposition, and the transversal portion of the front end part extendingoutside the opening of the seat shell in the deployed position; and alatching mechanism for locking the front end part in the deployedposition.
 2. The child safety seat according to claim 1, wherein thefront end part including the transversal portion and the two sideportions is formed integrally as a single part.
 3. The child safety seataccording to claim 1, wherein the two side portions bend from thetransversal portion symmetrical to each other.
 4. The child safety seataccording to claim 1, wherein the front end part is pivotally connectedwith the two sidewalls about a pivot axis that is located above the seatportion.
 5. The child safety seat according to claim 1, wherein each ofthe two sidewalls has an inner cavity, the two side portions of thefront end part being respectively received at least partially inside theinner cavities of the two sidewalls in the retracted position.
 6. Thechild safety seat according to claim 5, wherein each of the twosidewalls has two opposite sidewall surfaces and a sidewall edge, one ofthe two sidewall surfaces facing the interior space of the seat shelland the other one of the two sidewall surfaces facing an outer side ofthe seat shell, the sidewall edge being located above the seat portionand respectively connected with the two sidewall surfaces, the sidewalledge extending to the front end of the seat shell, the inner cavity ofeach of the two sidewalls being delimited at least partially by the twosidewall surfaces and the sidewall edge thereof.
 7. The child safetyseat according to claim 6, wherein each of the two side portions has afront surface that inclines forward and downward and forms a profileextension from the sidewall edge of the sidewall adjacent thereto in thedeployed position, the front surface forming an angle with respect tothe sidewall edge of the sidewall adjacent thereto in the retractedposition.
 8. The child safety seat according to claim 5, wherein each ofthe two side portions has a coupling end, the coupling ends of the twoside portions being respectively disposed inside the inner cavities ofthe two sidewalls and respectively connected pivotally with the twosidewalls via two pivot shafts.
 9. The child safety seat according toclaim 8, wherein the latching mechanism includes two latchesrespectively connected with the coupling ends of the two side portions,the two latches being movable relative to the front end part forengaging with or disengaging from the seat shell.
 10. The child safetyseat according to claim 9, wherein the two latches are respectivelyconnected slidably with the coupling ends of the two side portions,whereby the two latches are slidable relative to the front end part forengaging with or disengaging from the seat shell.
 11. The child safetyseat according to claim 9, wherein the latching mechanism furtherincludes two springs respectively connected with the two latches, thetwo springs respectively biasing the two latches to move for engagingwith the seat shell.
 12. The child safety seat according to claim 9,wherein the latching mechanism further includes a release actuator andtwo cables, the release actuator being assembled with the front end partand respectively connected with the two latches via the two cables, therelease actuator being operable to urge the two latches to move anddisengage from the seat shell.
 13. The child safety seat according toclaim 12, wherein the release actuator is provided on the transversalportion of the front end part.
 14. The child safety seat according toclaim 1, wherein the support base includes a shell body and a rotaryplatform pivotally connected with each other, the seat shell and therotary platform being rotatable in unison relative to the shell body sothat the seat shell is positionable in different orientations, includinga forward facing position, a rearward facing position and a sidewaysfacing position.
 15. The child safety seat according to claim 14,wherein the front end part sideways protrudes a first distance from thesupport base when the seat shell is in the sideways facing position onthe support base and the front end part is in the deployed position, andthe front end part sideways protrudes a second distance from the supportbase when the seat shell is in the sideways facing position on thesupport base and the front end part is in the retracted position, thesecond distance being equal to or smaller than about half the firstdistance.
 16. A child safety seat comprising: a support base adapted tobe installed on a vehicle seat; a seat shell positionable on the supportbase, the seat shell having a front end, a seat portion, a backrestportion and two sidewalls, the front end having an opening, the twosidewalls respectively protruding at a left and a right side of the seatportion, whereby an interior space for receiving a child is defined atleast partially between the two sidewalls; a retractable front end part,having a transversal portion and two side portions connected with thetransversal portion, the transversal portion extending along a widthdirection of the seat shell, and the two side portions beingrespectively connected pivotally with the two sidewalls of the seatshell, whereby the front end part is rotatable relative to the seatshell between a retracted position and a deployed position, thetransversal portion of the front end part being stowed and received atleast partially inside the opening of the seat shell in the retractedposition, and the transversal portion of the front end part extendingoutside the opening of the seat shell in the deployed position; and alatching mechanism for locking the front end part in the deployedposition; wherein the seat shell is adjustable relative to the supportbase to a forward facing position, a rearward facing position and asideways facing position, the front end part sideways protruding a firstdistance from the support base when the seat shell is in the sidewaysfacing position and the front end part in the deployed position, and thefront end part sideways protruding a second distance from the supportbase when the seat shell is in the sideways facing position and thefront end part in the retracted position, the second distance beingsmaller than the first distance.
 17. The child safety seat according toclaim 16, wherein the second distance is equal to or smaller than abouthalf the first distance.
 18. The child safety seat according to claim16, wherein the front end part is pivotally connected with the twosidewalls about a pivot axis that is located above the seat portion. 19.The child safety seat according to claim 16, wherein the two sideportions bend from the transversal portion symmetrical to each other.20. The child safety seat according to claim 16, wherein each of the twosidewalls has an inner cavity, each of the two side portions has acoupling end, the coupling ends of the two side portions beingrespectively disposed inside the inner cavities of the two sidewalls andrespectively connected pivotally with the two sidewalls, and thelatching mechanism includes two latches respectively connected with thecoupling ends of the two side portions, the two latches being movablerelative to the front end part for engaging with or disengaging from theseat shell.